What Happened to my Cat - Question for Vets??

Question

About 4 weeks ago, my Cat came home dragging his back legs and was having difficulty breathing. We instantly took him to the vet only to find out that nothing was wrong with him, days passed and he got better. After a week or so, I saw him lying on the grass, panting like a seal, after that he stopped eating as much, and was loseing his hair. Last saturday I heard this horrible cry and found him dragging his back legs again, crying and trying to breath. I instantly put him in his basket, seconds after fluid started running from his mouth and nose, his put his head down and died. What happened to my cat? why didnt Vets pick up anything? Could he have been kicked? does it sound like a common internal problem like Cancer or something? please help to put my mind at rest.

Answer 1

maybee it's he's time to go god forbit

important queston  do u ever figure out what happen?

Answer 2

This is just a suggestion as I didn't see your cat, so I am not saying this is definately what happened.

From your description is sounds like a condition we see in cats every now and then where they get a blood clot stuck at the base of their main artery, which blocks the blood supply to their back legs.  They go off their back legs, the back legs get very cold and then a pins and needles sensation sets in and they start a very characteristic crying.  Sometimes they also throw a clot to the lungs as well and they then have problems breathing.

This can be something that just happens out of the blue with no warnings or there can be an underlying heart problem.

Sadly euthanasia is the kindest option for these guys as treatment is very very rarely successful and the condition is very painful.

If you've got any further questions or if you want a better idea of what happened then I would recommend speaking to the vets that you saw because they may have found something that was different.

Such an awful thing to happen, I'm really sorry.

Answer 3

That sounds like, your cat could have had a medical condition that only effects the back legs, almost like being paralized but not a permanent thing. also he could have had a broken back, animals sometimes still walk if their back is broken so i'd say he's either been beaten or hit by a car.

Answer 4

I am not a vet but I am a vet assistant and have experienced something similiar with a client. The cat had been hit by a car and had a spinal fracture affecting his back legs. So when he moved the wrong way he would actually temporarily paralyze his hind quarters. I am guessing that your cat had some kind of blunt force trauma to his body and this is what happened. As far as him panting he could have punctured a lung or something internal but small and they didnt pick it up. Or there is always the possibility that the vet you went to is the kind that doesnt care about the animals and did a very quick overview exam and didnt look hard enough. Good luck on your quest for the answer and my condolences on you loss.

Answer 5

Messy_Beast & Laura explained it much better than I could have typed it.  

Exactly what I was thinking.  

I am also sorry for your loss.  :(

Answer 6

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty!

At first, I would have thought that maybe he had been hit by a car. But with the second seizure, I'm not so sure.

Now- I had a kitty who got sick rather like that once. And the vet couldn't find anything with the normal check-up. But when he took an x-ray, he found what he described as a couple of masses- he was very careful not to say tumors, but that's how I read it. And one of those masses was up against the kitty's spine. So yes, cancer is not out of the question. And was probably advanced by the time your friend came home before.

I don't really know what happened any more than you do- but that's my best guess.

Feel better- and when you're ready, read The Rainbow Bridge. Your friend will be waiting.

Answer 7

There's a condition called saddle thrombus that matches your description.  There's a narrow point in the artery where it divides to serve the hind legs.  If your cat develops a blood clot, it can often lodge in that narrow point.  This starves the hind legs of oxygenated blood, in effect killing them.  Often the clot continues to move so the hind end paralysis can be temporary as long as the blood wasn't cut off for too long.  However, the clot (or parts of the clot) is still in the blood circulatory system and can hit other organs, for example the heart, lungs or brain.  Depending on where the clot(s) hits, this can result in heart attack, breathing problems or stroke giving the symptoms you saw the second time.

Vets are aware of saddle thrombus, but if the cat has recovered the use of its hind limbs by the time it gets to the vet it's not possible for them to say for definite that is what had happened (there are other things that can cause temporary or intermittent paralysis of the hind limbs, including lots of different neuropathy conditions).  In that situation, the vet often has to tell you to take the cat straight in if the symptoms recur as they need to see first hand what is going on.

It isn't uncommon and is often known as "kitty stroke".  I lost one cat when the clot moved and hit her heart.  Another survived saddle thrombus, but always had slight weakness of the back legs.  I've also seen it happen to cats at the shelter, mostly older cats, but sometimes to a youngster.

Answer 8

a good reason to keep your cat inside, you can control the environment much eaiser, he  may have gottne into some poison or just about anything you can have your vet do a necropsy on him which is an animal autopsy to find out what was going on.

Answer 9

Im not a vet

im too young.

but what i think.

you said he

'came home'

so im guessing

hes an outdoor cat.

he probably

got hurt by another

animal. maybe

a dog or something.

or maybe he fell somewhere.

i wouldnt use that

same vet again if i were you.

next time. maybe

you should keep it a

inside cat.

im sorry about your loss

hope this helps :)